Good practices in health promotion for older people – Significance for evidence in health policy

This article is devoted to convincing policy makers to use good practices in encouraging older people to pursue adequate and effective health policies. Long-term scientific research focused on the effects of health promotion programmes is rarely undertaken, although its scope is still expanding. At the same time, it is strongly desirable to form health policy based on scientific evidence. In this situation, an indication of good practices characterised by precisely defined features and their systematic evaluation could be an alternative to an insufficient number of empirical studies. The first step of the methodology was a literature review on health promotion for older people, aimed at defining good practices and criteria used for their selection. The authors searched the following databases: PubMED, Embase and Cochrane Library, as well as international databases dedicated to health promotion programmes for older people (e.g. Age-friendly World ( https://extranet.who.int/agefriendlyworld/age-friendly-practice-database-launched ); HealthProElderly ( www.healthproelderly.com/database/index.php?id=16 ); JA-CHRODIS ( www.chrodis.eu ); EuroHealthNet ( www.eurohealthnet.eu ) and ProFouND; ( www.profound.eu.com ). As relevant health policy information is usually available in national languages, the authors then approached national experts in 10 European countries, who filled in a dedicated survey on health promotion programmes for older people and indicated examples of good practices from their countries. Practical evidence, based on real implemented programmes, is valuable as inspiration for health promotion programmes, their planning and management. Selecting good practices from among implemented and evaluated actions makes it possible to establish their value. The significance of good practices in health promotion is to deliver real benefits and health effects for a target group, which, in the case of evident benefits, renders the practices credible and worthy of further dissemination. The EU already successfully shares good practices in migrant health and environmental protection. Creating databases on good practices helps policy makers promote the sustainability of already implemented activities and enhances their applicability by other organisations and in different settings.     

CCMD-3与DSM-Ⅳ儿童孤独症两种诊断标准的比较

目的：比较中国精神疾病分类方案与诊断标准第三版（CCMD-3）与美国精神障碍诊断和统计手册第四版（DSM-Ⅳ）儿童孤独症诊断的一致性，探讨CCMD-3儿童孤独症诊断中存在的问题，确定诊断标准中各症状条目的出现频率。方法：运用CCMD-3和DSM-Ⅳ儿童孤独症诊断标准对连续首次就诊的255名可疑发育障碍儿童进行诊断。结果：两种诊断系统儿童孤独症、不典型孤独症、非孤独症诊断的总体一致率为96．08％；诊断差异主要来自于儿童孤独症和不典型孤独症的诊断不一致；个别症状在孤独症儿童中出现频率较低。结论：CCMD-3和DSM-Ⅳ儿童孤独症诊断标准具有较好的诊断一致性；为进一步提高诊断一致性，对CCMD-3中个别症状条目予以调整有所必要。     

Genetic data and natural history of Friedreich's disease: a study of 80 Italian patients

Summary The clinical and genetic features of 80 patients with Friedreich's disease from 64 families are described. Diagnostic criteria were: no evidence of dominant inheritance, onset by the age of 20 years, progressive unremitting ataxia of limbs and gait, and absence of knee and ankle jerks. Furthermore, at least one of the following accessory signs was present: dysarthria, extensor plantar response and echocardiographic evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Two peaks of onset age were evident at 6–9 and 12–15 years. Analysis of intrafamily variation of onset age and absence of clustering of cardiomyopathy and diabetes did not suggest genetic heterogeneity. Peripheral nerve impairment was an early finding and showed slight further progression, whereas involvement of the cerebellar and corticospinal pathways appeared later and mainly accounted for the progressive worsening of the disease.     

Evaluation of conventional weaning criteria in patients with acute respiratory failure

We evaluated the reliability of conventional weaning criteria from a ventilator during 33 weaning trials on 25 patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF). Of 13 criteria, a ratio of maximal voluntary ventilation to minute ventilation (MV) 2, a vital capacity 12ml·kg^–1, a spontaneous respiratory rate 25 breaths·min^–1, and a MV 10l·min^–1 appeared to be useful for predicting successful weaning outcome. However, even using those criteria, there were many falsely-negative cases. The alveolar-arterial P_{O 2} gradient 350mmHg at an Fi _{O 2} 1.0 was not useful as a predictor of weaning outcome. The present study demonstrates that conventional criteria are frequently inaccurate for predicting weaning outcomes and suggests that the use of some of these criteria may unnecessarily prolong the length of ventilator support. Since ventilation of most patients with poor oxygenation can be successfully discontinued by placing them on a continuous positive airway pressure system, these results suggest that the improvement of oxygenation is not an indispensable prerequisite for weaning from mechanical ventilators.(Okamoto K, Iwamasa H, Dogomori H, et al.: Evaluation of conventional weaning criteria in patients with acute respiratory failure. J Anesth 4: 213–218, 1990)     

Criteria for the diagnosis of endocarditis and the role of echocardiography

When infective endocarditis is a diagnostic possibility, echocardiography permits noninvasive imaging of cardiac structures. As involvement of the endocardium is a sine qua non of endocarditis, echocardiography may assist in its diagnosis by demonstrating such involvement. The ability of echocardiography to detect the intracardiac manifestations of infective endocarditis has continued to improve, especially with the introduction of transesophageal imaging. This article will discuss some of the echocardiographic findings in endocarditis and elucidate the incorporation of these findings in the new Duke criteria for the diagnosis of endocarditis.     

A Review of the Diagnostic Methods Reported in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

This review summarizes subject selection and diagnostic procedures documented in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. One hundred forty-two empirical articles published between February 1993 and April 1997 were examined. Reviewers independently evaluated articles using a coding instrument developed by the authors. Results indicated that a majority of researchers reported the use of one or more standard diagnostic criteria in classifying their subjects. However, numerous studies did not report the methods by which the diagnostic criteria were quantified or applied. Additionally, there was a lack of clear specification of inclusion and exclusion criteria for comorbid disorders. Improving the documentation of diagnostic practices in research on autism will benefit researchers and practitioners.     

Incidence of analgesic nephropathy among patients undergoing renal replacement therapy in Czech republic and Slovak republic

BACKGROUND.: The occurrence of analgesic nephropathy (AN) among renal replacementtherapy patients in former Czechoslovakia is not known. Previoussurveys were not based on representative samples and lackeduniform criteria for diagnosing the disease. METHODS.: Incidence of AN in former Czechoslovakia was investigated inpatients commencing renal replacement therapy in 24 (1/3 ofall) dialysis centres from 1 January to 31 December 1992. Patientsshowing an unclear renal diagnosis (n=149) were investigatedwith an interview and renal imaging techniques. The diagnosisof AN was withheld or rejected on the base of recently publisheddiagnostic criteria demonstrating that a decreased renal massof both kidneys combined with bumpy contours and/or papillarycalcifications had a high performance for diagnosing AN (NephrolDial Transplant 1992; 7: 479–486). RESULTS.: Based on the renal imaging criteria, AN was diagnosed in 30of 328 registered patients, resulting in an AN incidence of9.1% while the EDTA data only mentioned an incidence of 4.8%(period 1986–1989). The products most commonly abusedwere analgesic mixtures containing two analgesic substancescombined with caffeine and/or codeine. CONCLUSIONS.: AN was found to be a common disease in the Czech and SlovakRepublics. The disease was diagnosed using reliable renal imagingcriteria.     

Kraepelin-oriented research-diagnosable schizophrenia,mania, and depression in schneider-negative schizophrenics

Summary The rigorous neo-Kraepelinean research criteria of the St. Louis/ Iowa and Taylor groups were applied to case record data of 116 first admissions of Schneider-negative schizophrenics—that is, those without first-rank symptoms (FRSs)—hospitalized in a strongly Schneider-oriented German University Psychiatric Clinic from 1962 to 1971. This sample had a total of 45.7% (53 cases) of psychiatric illness diagnosable by research methods. Indeed, only 31% (36 cases) of Schneider-negative schizophrenics turned out to have research-positive Kraepelin-oriented schizophrenia; and of these, 21 fulfilled both sets of research criteria for schizophrenia. It is important that 14.6% (17 cases) of Schneider-negative schizophrenia consisted of research-diagnosable affective disorder, with mania making up 5.2% and depression 9.4% of this figure. The findings suggest that a sample of Schneider-oriented schizophrenia without FRSs as routinely diagnosed in Germany does not seem to represent a clear-cut homogeneous and uncontaminated group of schizophrenics.     

Hysterical neurosis, conversion type: clinical and epidemiological considerations.

This paper considers data on hysterical neurosis, conversion type from the Monroe County (New York) Cumulative Psychiatric Case Register, from the Psychiatric Case Register in Iceland, and from a psychiatric consultation service in a university teaching general hospital in Monroe County (New York) during the period 1960 to 1969. The rate of hysterical neurosis, conversion type in Monroe County during this period was 22 per 100,000 per year, whereas in Iceland it was 11 per 100,000 per year. It was highest for women, non-whites and those of low social economic status. The rate of hysterical neurosis, conversion type and "probable" hysterical neurosis, conversion type combined among patients seen in psychiatric consultation was 4.5%. The most often noted diagnostic criteria were inconsistency with somatic process and precipitation of symptoms by psychological stress. Most patients had more than one conversion symptom at the same time. Pain was the most common symptom. The majority of patients had an accompanying organic or functional illness.